1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to mobile compaction equipment and more specifically to a compaction implement which may be used in field environments and which is selectively mounted to a conventional vehicle such as a farm tractor and which includes a compaction assembly which is horizontally and vertically adjustably maneuverable with respect to the tractor so as to allow a compaction ram to be extended over and into the bed of a transporting trailer of the type that is conventionally used to haul harvested cotton and other fibrous or other compactable materials. The compaction assembly is hydraulically operated and controlled by being directly connected to the hydraulic system of the supporting vehicle and is mounted to a horizontal adjustable support carriage which is also controlled by the hydraulic system of the supporting vehicle. The support carriage is pivotally mounted for movement in a vertical plane to the implement mounting frame which is detachably mounted to the supporting vehicle.
2. History of the Prior Art
In the harvesting of such fibrous materials as cotton, the cotton is initially picked in the field and then transported to a location where it is prepared for future use. The harvesting process is very labor intensive and often very inefficient due to the nature of the cotton itself.
Currently, in many farming operations, after the cotton is picked, it is loaded into large trailers which are then transported to local gin mills. In an effort to reduce costs by increasing the amount of picked cotton which can be shipped per trailer load, many farmers have utilized the technique of manually compacting the loose cotton within the trailer so that additional quantities of cotton may be shipped in a given trailer load. Such manual compaction, however, is itself labor intensive requiring three to six workers per trailer and with the effective amount of compaction being limited.
In an effort to modernize and mechanize the shipment of seed cotton from the fields to the ginning mills, growing use has been made of special in field compaction equipment which can be utilized to bail the picked seed cotton for future shipment. Such equipment does have the advantage of increasing the amount of cotton which can be effectively shipped per vehicle, however, the initial equipment cost may be prohibitive especially for the intermediate and smaller size farm operations.
Some recent examples of in field cotton module compactors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,896,720 to Rhodes, 4,294,169 to Baird, 4,344,272 to Gaudette et al. and 4,548,131 to Williams. In several of these patents, the cotton is initially loaded into a storage or container portion of the compaction vehicle after which the cotton is compressed into modules for future shipment. After being compacted into modules, the cotton is discharged from the compaction vehicle. In the patent to Rhodes, an enlarged vehicluar structure is provided which straddles a conventional cotton hauling trailer and includes a presser plate which may be urged to compress or compact the cotton which has been loaded into the trailer.
Such prior art structures are not only large and extremely bulky but require considerable outlays of capital to acquire and are also expensive to maintain. Therefore, such vehicles are not practical in all harvesting situations.
In addition to the foregoing, many of the currently manufactured cotton compaction vehicles utilize their own storage containers or compartments and therefore do not make any use of existing transportation, hauling or storage equipment. Such vehicles therefore do not offer the cotton farmer the ability to modernize shipping operations without totally replacing existing equipment.
Some additional examples of prior art compaction equipment are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,495,527 to Lafreniere and 3,691,967 to Mettal, Jr.